A Look Back, A Step Forward

A new year beckons

Photo by Johnathan

✨Happy New Year!✨

I joined Substack in mid-April 2023. My goal was to publish twice a week with a poem on Wednesdays and a short story or essay on Saturdays. I’ve managed to more or less stick to that schedule, at times posting my poems previously published in now-defunct literary journals. See a list of some of my favorite pieces I wrote in 2023 (two per month) below. Some of my writing, mostly poetry, has also been published in Spillwords and Written Tales Magazine.

On to 2024. I am editing the first draft of my novel and would like to devote more time to editing this and subsequent drafts. Look for my short stories and poetry by email and on the website once per week every Saturday in 2024. Every third Wednesday in a month, I will update paid subscribers on my novel’s progress and announce a writing prompt. This year’s prompts will be theme-related with the first seven based on the seven deadly sins and their antonyms. The Blue Chevy Malibu writing challenge will remain open all year and look for at least one other writing challenge that asks you to supply an ending to a story.

I want to take this opportunity to thank all my subscribers. Your support means the world to me. Your words in the comment sections prop me up when I’m low.

I cannot forget my guest authors, who filled in for me in August (without much of a lead time) and continue to give me encouragement and support. Kris E. D., Herb Horowitz, D. Mann, Laura Simon, and Heather Wilmot, your stories and poetry inspired me. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Thank you also to all my fellow writers on Substack who inspire their readers with writing prompts. If you’ve been reading my posts, you know I have relied on prompts many times for inspiration, especially in the last half of the year as I dealt with my brother-in-law’s death, my sister’s illness, and the ongoing complications. Many thanks to Jason McBride, Honeygloom, Justin Deming, and Written Tales Magazine.

I also would like to acknowledge fellow Substack writers who supported me as subscribers, posted comments, or inspired me with their fabulous writing. Thank you Sharon Bassano, Alexander M Crow, Justin Deming, Kathy Gori, Honeygloom, Just Mud, Mark Kolke, Jason McBride, Jim Melvin, Daniel O'Donnell, Meg Oolders, David Perlmutter, S. E. Reid, James Ron, and Lauren Salas, for your brilliant pieces of writing and your encouraging words.

⭐My 2023 Favorites

April

• Spring Unfolding, poetry

• Drone, microfiction

May

• Wedding Day Haiku, haiku (poetry)

• Buzz Kill, flash fiction

June

• Daughter’s Lament, poetry

• The Flying Cockroach, flash fiction

July

• The Edges, prose poetry

• Blue Raspberry Slurshy, microfiction

August

• Hopeless, poetry

• Weather Alert, tanka (poetry)

September

• Heartbreak in Tennessee, flash fiction

• Sand Fulgurites, essay

October

• Grim, poetry

• A Vampire’s Curse, microfiction

November

• Giving Thanks, prose poetry

• Sonnet #12, sonnet (poetry)

December

• The Time Thief, prose poetry

• Snowstorm, poetry

⭐Other Lists

• Top 10 Pieces of 2023

• Top 5 Poetry Pieces of 2023

• Top 5 Fiction Pieces of 2023

Author’s Note

Credits for photos used in the video I created (with the help of Canva) to introduce this post on Instagram and other social media, go to Kris Kashtanova, Johnathan, and a curated group of 12 visual artists used throughout 2023.

Upcoming…

• An ending to Blue Chevy Malibu:

  Living… A Little by Laura Simon, 6 January 2024

  Living… A Little

Thanks very much for reading, subscribing, and sharing the stories, poetry, and essays in this space. If you like a story, poem, or essay, please click on the heart. Also if you are so moved, please leave a comment.